FILM: Jaffa at our March Meeting

March 9th, 2012 • Events, Film & Documentary, News
Tags: cannes, film, meeting, november, oscar, Salt of This Sea

As part of our March branch meeting we’ll be showing Eyal Sivan’s film “Jaffa, the orange’s clockwork”:

… narrates the visual history of the famous citrus fruit originated from Palestine and known worldwide for centuries as “Jaffa oranges”.

The history of the orange is the history of this land. Through photography and cinema, poetry, paintings, workers of the citruses’ industry and historians, memory and present mythologies, Palestinians and Israelis cross and combine. The close reading of the Jaffa brand’s visual representation is a reflection on western orientalist phantasms surrounding the ‘holy land’ and the ‘State of Israel’ and a tool to reveal the untold story of what was once a commune industry and symbol to Arabs and Jews in Palestine.

When? 8pm Thursday 15th March 2012

Where? Room 3, RISC, London Street, Reading , RG1 4PS (above the Global Cafe)

FILM: Gaza Lives On at our February Meeting

February 9th, 2012 • Events, Film & Documentary, News
Tags: cannes, film, meeting, november, oscar, Salt of This Sea

UPDATED: Thanks to all those that attended the meeting. Please share the film, embedded above.

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As part of our February branch meeting we’ll be showing Ashraf Mashharawi’s film “Gaza Lives On”: The Israeli blockade may have taken a heavy toll on Gazans, but this film reveals life and hope among the devastation.

Some have said of the film: “… it is very precious and captures the beauty, struggle and spirit of Gazans in a very intimate way.”

“I just wanted by this film to show how people here have a nice building spirit and to show their love of life and peace so we can see this nice color pictures despite the hard conditions that they have.” – Ashraf Mashharawi

When? 8pm Thursday 16th February 2012

Where? Room 3, RISC, London Street, Reading , RG1 4PS (above the Global Cafe)

FILM: Salt of this Sea at our November Meeting

November 10th, 2011 • Events, Film & Documentary, News
Tags: cannes, film, meeting, november, oscar, Salt of This Sea

As part of our November branch meeting we’ll be showing the award-winning film “Salt of this Sea” – a 2008 Official Selection at Cannes and Palestine’s OSCAR entry for Best Foreign Language Film.

When? 8pm Thursday 17th November 2011

Where? Room 3, RISC, London Street, Reading , RG1 4PS (above the Global Cafe)

Soraya, born in Brooklyn in a working class community of Palestinian refugees, discovers that her grandfather’s savings were frozen in a bank account in Jaffa when he was exiled in 1948. Stubborn, passionate and determined to reclaim what is hers, she fulfills her life-long dream of “returning” to Palestine. Once there, slowly she is taken apart by the reality around her and is forced to confront her own anger. She meets Emad, a young Palestinian whose ambition, contrary to hers, is to leave forever. Tired of the constraints that dictate their lives, they know in order to be free, they must take things into their own hands, even if it’s illegal.

• Find out more at the Official Website…

FILM: Salt of This Sea

May 13th, 2010 • Events, Film & Documentary, News
Tags: cannes, film, french institute, london, Salt of This Sea

The Palestinian film Salt of this Sea, shown at Cannes in 2008, is screening in London at the French Institute from May 21-30 – Book your tickets here…

The first feature film by a Palestinian woman, Salt of This Sea tells the story of Soraya, a third-generation, working-class Palestinian refugee living in Brooklyn, New York. Soraya discovers that her grandfather’s savings have been frozen in a bank account in Jaffa since he was expelled in 1948. Determined to reclaim what is theirs, she fulfills her life-long dream to return to Palestine, but is rebuffed by the bank. It is then she meets Emad, a young Palestinian whose ambition, in contrast to hers, is to leave Palestine forever. Tired of the constraints that dictate their lives, Soraya and Emad know that in order to be free, they must take things into their own hands, even it means breaking the law…

“This film is my personal voice, intimate,… it’s the voice of my family, of my village, of my people. It’s the voice of every refugee…” – Saleh Bakri, actor

“Annemarie Jacir’s filmic vision is brilliant, emotional, intense and fresh. Salt of this Sea is absolutely one of the best films I’ve seen in years” -Michael Moore, Director